You’re caught up in a roaring wave of busy airport travelers, and stopping for even a minute to jot down a text will get you trampled. What’s the best way to quickly contact your ride in this situation? The Tap Notify app has the solution, and all it will take is a few seconds of your time. Granted, you will have to briefly pull out your iPhone, but it’s much more convenient than writing an entire book with Messages.

At last, we have a practical way to quickly send texts on the go, at the urinal, and during business meetings. Tap Notify is perfect for brief bits of info that you may need to pass along. Canned responses are the name of the game here, and in this case, it’s a good thing.

How It Works

The app utilizes a set of five preset messages that can be customized to your taste. All you have to do is select one of these messages from the menu, and it automatically constructs a canned text message or email for you to send to a preferred contact. Included is even a link to a Google Map depicting your whereabouts. This is much easier than having these kinds of phone conversations with incredibly reliable friends:

“No, I’m by the Starbucks… No, the other Starbucks. On Church Street… The one with the crazy barista… Yeah… No, no. Not Michelle. Tori. Her… She changed stores? Thank God. Okay, well… I’ll just come outside. Keep driving… Wait… What do you mean you haven’t left yet?”

Of course, this isn’t the app’s only trick. The Tap Notify app will also pin various points of interest on your local map, connecting you to Wikipedia articles about them. This is great for those of you who often travel or are simply getting to know your surroundings. You can even create markers for your own locations to quickly remember them.

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How It Looks

Tap Notify is meant to be used quickly, so its layout is more practical than pretty. The main screen simply depicts the five messages as well as text and email options. To put things in perspective, you should be able tap Notify at a stoplight without spending too much time looking at your phone. Theoretically, it should take only two taps minimum.

Moving on, the app apparently uses Google Map’s dataHow Does Google Maps Work?How Does Google Maps Work?Google Maps is used by millions of people every day and you might be one of them, but how does it actually work and how does Google maintain its accuracy so well?Read More, so location information can generally be trusted. With that said, in-app maps are very easy to understand, and all markers are placed in a visible manner. Furthermore, Wikipedia articles are opened using a browser within the app, so nothing is reformatted.

Let’s be real. You won’t get crazy about Tap Notify’s design. It doesn’t feature 3D graphics or magical rainbows that shoot out of your iPhone’s screen. It also appears that it isn’t updated for the iPhone 5 – note the black bars at the top and bottom of the images. Regardless, it’s functional, and with an app like this, that’s where it counts.

How It Feels

Usage of the app feels very fluid, so you won’t have to make any crazy gestures or weird gang signs in order for it to work. In all honesty, Tap Notify’s namesake really describes it well – tap the screen, and notify someone of your whereabouts. There’s not much else to say.

Granted, I did run into a problem when I first used the Tap Notify app. I tried to add contacts, but no dice. Sending messages briefly froze the app, and upon further inspection, I discovered that the messages weren’t even sent at all. Reinstalling the app wouldn’t even help.

I’ll give Tap Notify the benefit of the doubt, though. This is likely an isolated incident, for the app has five-star ratings all around and is even in our Best iPhone Apps list. However, if you ever run into this problem, restarting your iPhone seems to do the trick.